Today was a day of changing scenery as we made our way from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan. From snow-capped mountains to lunar-like landscapes and then green pastures.

Stopped at Charyn Canyon which is known as the Grand Canyon of Kazakhstan. After crossing the endless, wide-open plains outside of Almaty, the canyon comes as a surprise. Seemingly out of nowhere, the landscape gets a third dimension. The dramatic erosion made by the river Charyn has created an impressive landscape. The history of Charyn Canyon stretches back 12 million years when the river started slowly eroding the stone around it. The oldest, darkest layers at the bottom of the canyons are volcanic lava rocks, on top of which debris slowly accumulated to form natural sculptures. The Canyon depth is 200m. The height of the bluff mountains of the Canyon reaches 150-300m. The Valley of Castles is the famous bit of Charyn Canyon. It has a particularly bright red colour and rock formations that resemble castles. Standing on top, looking down, it is an awesome sight.

Our first border crossing was at a small border checkpoint out in the middle of nowhere. Started with a guard coming onto the bus with a rifle slung over his shoulder to check our passports. We then had to get off the bus, gather our suitcases, and head to the building to have our cases scanned. We then returned the suitcase to the bus and had to walk about 150 meters through no man's land to the Kyrgyzstan checkpoint. There was a bit of drama when one of our group had a small tear on a page of their passport. After much negotiation, and a bit of money exchanging hands he was allowed through. Kyrgyzstan is known for its nomadic farming culture so we passed multiple herds of cattle and sheep.

All up it was about 400 km of travel on the bus today before we reached Karakol. After quickly checking into the hotel we were then off to visit an ethnic Uighur family to taste the national cuisine of Lagman which is a traditional hand-pulled, stretched noodle dish. First, we had to make noodles. None of us were experts at rolling, stretching, and slapping our noodles on the table but we had heaps of fun and laughs trying.